How can I make over this secretary desk?

you could paint it or use chalk paint on it to give it a distressed look - it sure is a beauty!

Hi! Cheryl is right! ...a distressed look will mitigate the grill issues!

It will look fabulous painted! You can use wood filler to fix the broken grills before painting - then sand it smooth. Have fun!

Some wood filler and careful sanding will fix the missing wood/veneer. Remember, paint shows everything, so sand it well.

Hello. Many bloggers remove glass and place metal mesh.

Have a look at this link, and some other pages on this site.

I hope this helps.

https://lecultivateur.com/2020/03/13/french-vintage-friday-antique-buffet-turned-hutch/

I bought an old hutch second hand that looked similar before, here is what I did: https://thehoneycombhome.com/upcycled-hutch-makeover/

What a beautiful piece of furniture! Everytime I see one of these, they are always stained so dark.

Usually I love natural wood, but this one just screams " please paint me"! That is what I woudl do for this secretary. It will brighten the appearance. I was thinking, the back walls of the glassed area would be perfect for a pattern of some sort & would push this over the top.

A terrific find! If the grills are just sitting on the glass, you can remove it to repair it. It would be easier to paint, too.

There are some great ideas here:

https://www.hometalk.com/search/all?filter=secretary%20desk

What a great piece the detail is gorgeous. Is the trim on the doors attached to the glass?

How nice !!! I would paint it , change the hardware and paper the back of the cabinet area .

Hi there,

You could always make the glass in to stained glass look by using coloured glass paint or nail varnish or Contact for glass or Transfers etc. Leave the glass trims as is or paint black /grey to resemble Lead. Paint the rest of the piece Grey the same and make a feature of the drawers maybe............Enjoy the Project!

This is a gorgeous piece! What is your decor style?

You could go farmhouse and replace the glass on the doors with chicken wire.

Modernize with stained glass as well. There is a product "gallery glass" that would work beautifully.

Be sure to document and then post as a project so we can see how it turns out and your process.

Chalk paint in white and distressed would look great

I would sand and paint a pretty light blue or grey

I would first paint the interior of the piece a color you love and live with it a while before moving forward with painting the entire piee. Many good suggestions have already been posted. :)

I have the exact same one. I used off white chalk paint to distress the outside and did the inside in robin's egg blue and it's so cute now.

I see some cool art deco potential here. I think the grills would be gorgeous if you painted them gold, and maybe new gold pulls to match. Then either navy or emerald green paint on the rest of it. Or black could be cool too. Good luck!

Paint would make it look brand new!

I'd paint it - shade of gra and give it some updated hardware.

Beautiful !! I would just change color